Water is needed in huge amounts in tarsands production and in all other construction stages of tarsands infrastructure across the continent. It takes five litres of water to produce one of usable petrol. There is also water used to move gas, build new tar pits or that water which becomes polluted in the outlying areas. Waste tailings ponds are so vast as to be visible from outer space at this early point in production. Water is now being privatized in slow motion, as “access rights” are available in Alberta. As production grows and climate change continues to parch southern Albertan land, more and more water will be needed to help supply fuel for the American market. This water will ultimately be diverted from rivers, lakes, farms and cities throughout Canada; the water levels in the Athabasca River have already dropped several meters. The Deh Cho/Mackenzie River is already threatened, both from development along its valley and it is downstream from tar sands operations. A generation ago, the Athabasca River was clear and drinking was common. Now, those that live with the river consider it poison and off-limits.
Deh Cho bridge could impede barge route
By MIN HUN FONG, SRJ Reporter
Alberta proponents of the northern barge route said they were disappointed their project might be forced out by the Deh Cho bridge, but said they respected the NWT’s decision in any event.
Mammoet Canada, heavy lifting specialists and a proponent of the barge route, said it would be disappointing if the barge route is cancelled, especially since the economic spinoff from the route would benefit the NWT as a whole.
Canadian Crude: Impact Felt 1,200 Miles Away
- 11/12/2007
Canada produces two and a half million barrels of oil a day and production is expected to double over the next decade. So, energy companies are looking for ways to get a newly developed oil from Canada to refineries in North America. One option is TransCanada's proposed Keystone Pipeline that would run through South Dakota and it all would start in Fort McMurray, Alberta.
It's about as far north as any paved road in Alberta goes. Fort McMurray sits in the Athabasca River valley 275 miles north of Edmonton.
The Richest First Nation in Canada
Ecological and political life in Fort MacKay
by Macdonald Stainsby
The Dominion - http://www.dominionpaper.ca
The primarily Indigenous, mostly Cree (also 'Chipewyan Dene') community of Fort MacKay--just north of the internationally famous tar sand "boom" city of Fort McMurray--is said to be the "richest First Nation in Canada." The alleged wealth is largely due to the fact that the community is surrounded by, and on top of, tar sand.
Study Finds Carcinogens in Water Near Alberta Oil Sands Projects
By IAN AUSTEN
Published: November 9, 2007
OTTAWA, Nov. 7 — High levels of carcinogens and toxic substances have been found in fish, water and sediment downstream from Alberta’s huge oil sands projects, according to a new study.
The 75-page report, written by Kevin P. Timoney, an ecologist with Treeline Environmental Research, was commissioned by the local health authority of Fort Chipewyan, Alberta, where many residents say they believe the oil sands developments to the south are damaging their health.
New report finds elevated arsenic risk in Fort Chipewyan
By MATTHEW HEINDL
Fort McMurray Today staff
Friday November 09, 2007
A new study that claims high levels of arsenic and mercury are in the Athabasca River has many calling for a halt to oilsands growth, but two Alberta government departments are not supporting its findings.
More than 70 people in Fort Chipewyan met Wednesday night to hear Dr. Kevin Timoney of Treeline Ecological Research deliver his findings on river sediment deposits downstream of the oilsands.
Thanks to global warming, pollution, population growth, and
privatization, we are teetering on the edge of a global crisis.
by Tara Lohan
AlterNet (October 11 2007)
Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, the Hungarian biochemist and Nobel Prize winner
for medicine once said, "Water is life's matter and matrix, mother and
medium. There is no life without water."
We depend on water for survival. It circulates through our bodies and
the land, replenishing nutrients and carrying away waste. It is passed
down like stories over generations - from ice-capped mountains to rivers
to oceans.
Effect of royalty rates not so painful
In recent quarterly reports, energy firms say higher rates won't pinch profits so hard
NORVAL SCOTT
With files from Reuters
November 10, 2007
CALGARY -- A swath of energy companies said this week that the impact of Alberta's increased royalty charges won't be as significant as some in the oil patch had initially feared.
Total to alter Joslyn plans
NORVAL SCOTT
November 10, 2007
CALGARY -- French energy giant Total SA is re-evaluating strategy at its Joslyn oil sands development, with a view to doing more mining of the resource than previously expected, according to the junior partner in the project.
By RENATO GANDIA, SUN MEDIA
High levels of cancer-causing toxins are being found in areas downstream of Fort McMurray's oilsands, says a study commissioned by residents of Alberta's oldest community.
Waters in Fort Chipewyan contain high levels of arsenic, the fish are contaminated with high levels of mercury and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons - another pollutant - are higher than they should be, said Kevin Timoney.
Timoney is the ecologist who studied the waters and sediments in the Peace-Athabasca Delta near Fort Chipewyan, 610 air km northeast of Edmonton.
Alberta's tar sands to supply South Dakota's oil projects
Pipeline, refinery would tap into Canadian crude
Oct 23, 2007 04:30 AM
Dirk Lammers
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SIOUX FALLS, S.D.–As oil hovers around $90 (U.S.) a barrel, the race is on to tap more heavily into the world's second-largest oil reserve, and South Dakota – a major ethanol producer that typically sits on the alternative side of the fuel industry – is finding itself at the crossroads of two major oil projects.
